“People will speak,” she murmured, fearing the judgment of others and the cruelty of the rumors of high society.
People always talk. Those who truly live are those who stop listening to them to follow their hearts.
Beatriz fixed it for a long time. She sought in her eyes the trap, the pity disguised as love or condescending.
She found none of this. She found a lonely man who had learned too late, but just in time, the essential.
She understood that true wealth came in the form of a stretched hand and a sincere look.
“I have three children,” she said, “as one last warning, fearing that the burden would be too heavy for him.
“I know,” Gustavo replied with a tender smile. They are part of the reason I fell in love with you.
The life they built was not perfect, but it was real, vibrant and filled with moments of daily happiness.
Gustavo enrolled Beatriz at the Faculty of Education at the most prestigious university in the city to complete her studies.
She protested out of pride. He insisted for love. They eventually reached a deal that suited both of them.
She would study if he promised not to treat her as a charity, but as the woman he loved.
The children adopted Gustavo with the carefree speed that only the children have in the face of kindness.
Kayo called her “Dad Gus” first, almost unintentionally, a day when she fell into the garden.
Teo took a little longer; at eight, he had a long enough memory to remember the past pain.
But one night, while Gustavo was helping him with a math problem, the boy just said, “Dad, I think the book is wrong. »
They continued the exercises as if this word had always been part of their vocabulary and life.
